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Congregation | Greening Resources
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Recycling & Composting
Recycling and Composting
Greening
Ideas
Educational
Resources
Practical
Resources
Greening Ideas
For many congregations, an important first step towards wisely stewarding Earth’s gifts, is to be sure that as few of these gifts as possible wind up being treated as garbage. Many areas in the United States now have extensive recycling programs, and some even compost yard waste. More and more congregations now engage in these programs – some may pay a bit more for them, while others actually find opportunities to make money through recycling efforts. For example, many youth groups collect aluminum cans for fundraising. Some congregations even build and sell worm bins (for composting food waste) to raise extra money. In addition to such financial opportunities, recycling and composting can provide children and others with hands-on opportunities to learn how to be more thoughtful consumers.
One congregation’s
experience …
Blessing of the Worm Bin
In 1997, the
preschool children at St.
Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Seattle helped to build a worm bin.
This bin would become home for thousands of worms that would work
to change the children’s food wastes into rich soil for their garden.
The children (and some of their adult teachers, pastors, and
friends) thought this God-created transformation was so amazing, that they
wanted to have a blessing service for the worms and their new home (the
bin). Here are some of the
prayers from the service that was held in the church’s sanctuary:
The First Supper (for the worms)
Celebrant: You shall
eat plenty and be satisfied, and praise the Name of the Lord your God, who
has dealt wondrously with you [Psalm 148:10].
People: The eyes of
all wait upon you, O Lord, and you give them their food in due season
[Psalm 104:27].
Consecration of the Worm Habitat
Celebrant: Give your
blessing, Lord, to all who share this place, that they may be knit
together in fellowship here on Earth, and joined with the communion of
your saints in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
People: Amen.
Educational Resources
· For children and youth, check out relevant sections (e.g., “God and Garbage”) in Christie Jenkins’ books, Loving Our Neighbor the Earth and Your Will Be Done on Earth. See our Recommended Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources guide for information on these books.
· For recycling facts and materials, see Healing and Defending God’s Creation: Hands On! Practical Ideas for Congregations. See our Recommended Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources guide for information on this resource.
· To conduct a congregational waste audit, you may wish to use Household Ecoteam Workbook: A Six-month Program to Bring Your Household into Environmental Balance, by Global Action Plan for the Earth. See our Recommended Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources guide for information on this resource.
Practical Resources
· Click here for Puget Sound-area resources.
· The Web of Creation’s pages on Recycling and Composting contain a wealth of ideas, tips, and resources for congregations.
· The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “WasteWise” program provides free technical assistance to help congregations, businesses, and organizations develop, implement, and measure waste reduction activities.
· The Environmental Hotline, (800) CLEAN-UP (253-2687), provides information on where to recycle and dispose of hazardous wastes, composting, and other resources in your area.
· To reduce unwanted junk mail and keep your name or your congregation’s name off national mailing lists, click here for the Direct Marketing Association’s web site. For households, make sure that you identify all of the members in your household and indicate the various ways the names are listed on subscriptions. You will need to renew this request about every five years.
· To conduct a “Waste, Packaging, …and Recycling” audit, see EarthScore: Your Personal Environmental Audit & Guide by Donald Lotter. See our Recommended Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources guide for a description.
· A variety of companies sell recycled products for home and congregational use (e.g., office products, bulletins). Purchasing such products helps to “close the loop” on the recycling process. For example, Recycled Office Products and Treecycle Recycled Paper have fairly extensive catalogues.
You can also find a broad listing of companies with recycled paper products in Co-op America’s National Green Pages – an ecologically sound yellow pages.
Many recycled products are now processed without chlorine – thus helping to eliminate dioxin, a highly toxic by-product of the chlorine-bleaching process. Look for paper products with the highest recycled content and certification like “Totally Chlorine-Free (TFC)” and “Process Chlorine-Free (PCF).” To learn more, visit the Chlorine Free Products Association web site.
· Many photocopy stores (e.g., Kinko’s) now offer recycled and chlorine-free paper options. If you frequent a copy store that doesn’t carry these papers, ask if they are willing to special order paper for you or if they will let you supply your own.
· 100% biodegradable, compostable table settings can be found at Green Event.